The present invention relates generally to monitoring patient surveillance video using a sitter's patient monitoring device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic patient sitter management system, and method and software program product for managing a plurality of sitter's patient monitoring devices for monitoring real time surveillance patient room video based on the availability of the sitter's patient monitoring devices to the electronic patient sitter management system.
At times, patients and/or residents in a heath care facility (HCF), which may be a hospital, convalescent facility, nursing home, long term care facility, a rehabilitation facility, or the like, will need managed assistance that does not rise to the level of that typically offered by a HCF professional, i.e., a doctor, counselor, nurse, or even a nurse aide, however, the patient must be continuously monitored for conditions that might indicate the immediate need for intervention by a HCF professional. Such situations include, but are not limited to, patient's that are in a demented, depressed, impaired or incapacitated mental state in which the patient can not be trusted to make cognitive decisions concerning her own welfare, best interest or safety. Examples include, patients under sedation or other medications that reduce the cognitive abilities or patient's motor skills, or under or recovering from any medical procedure or diagnostic procedure utilizing such medications, patients recovering from surgery, a general anesthesia (or some local anesthetics that might impair the patient's mental capacity or motor skills), suicidal or deeply depressed patients, patients in the initial or critical stages of substance abuse treatment where sobriety must be independently verified and other similar situations.
In the prior art, these types of patients were handled in one of two ways: remote monitoring of patients at a predesigned HCF station, such as a nurse station, by HCF professionals on duty at that station and by a sitter stationed with the patient, typically in the same room as the patient (a local sitter).
Monitoring patients by HCF professionals on duty at a predesigned HCF station is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,477,285 to Johnson, entitled Non-Intrusive Data Transmission Network for Use in an Enterprise Facility and Method for Implementing, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and to a lesser extent each of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/589,654 entitled System and Method for Predicting Patient Falls, Ser. No. 12/589,654 System and Method for Documenting Patient Procedures, Ser. No. 12/804,774 entitled System and Method for Using a Video Monitoring System to Prevent and Manage Decubitus Ulcers in Patients and Ser. No. 61/513,523 entitled Noise Correcting Patient Fall Risk State System and Method for Predicting Patient Falls, each assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. These patient monitoring systems involve implementing a patient surveillance system in which a surveillance video camera is strategically positioned in patients' rooms and which is connected to a surveillance network. The surveillance network is further connected to a nurse monitoring device located at the predesigned HCF station. FIG. 1 illustrates a view from image 100 of such a monitoring device. Notice surveillance image 100 shows the real time surveillance video images a plurality of patient rooms, typically all of the patient rooms under the charge of that particular HCF station. Surveillance image 100 shows patient rooms 300 through 318 under the charge of the HCF professionals assigned to that particular HCF station. Optimally, the nurse monitoring device will allow HCF professionals to repopulate, reorganize and resize the individual video frames corresponding to the respective patient rooms. In so doing, image frames corresponding to patients requiring more attention, such as those designated for sitter services, can be situated to more prominent positions within surveillance image 100, such as to the upper image frame rows, enlarged, enhanced or otherwise visually designated as being selected for special sitter service from the attending HCF professionals at the particular HCF station.
While monitoring patients by HCF professionals on duty at a predesigned HCF station has certain advantages to other patient monitoring strategies (i.e., the local sitter option), it is extremely expensive for the HCF to devote one or more skilled HCF professionals to mundane sitter duties. Moreover, because the intent of sitter services is to provide uninterrupted monitoring to patients in need of that service, having charge skilled HCF professionals such as nurses performing sitter services is problematic because in critical situations these professional often leave their monitoring duties. For instance, the HCF professionals on duty may be required to perform more immediate tasks involving other patients, such as personally attending to patients in their respective patient rooms, thereby leaving other sitter patients unmonitored, sometimes for extended periods of time. Additionally, even though the predesigned HCF stations are centrally located to the patients' rooms under the care of that station, HCF professionals may be required to traverse long distances or through multiple facility corridors in order to reach a sitter patient needing assistance. Finally, another problem with using a skilled HCF professional for sitter responsibilities is that of attention to the monitor. Monitoring surveillance video can be extremely monotonous. Skilled HCF professionals often feel underutilized in sitter monitoring roles and become complacent, and often attempt to multitask to their other duties at the expense of the sitter patients.
Consequently, even though patient monitoring systems of the type discussed in the aforementioned specifications are important advancements in patient care and safety, they are generally not preferred over the use of local sitters, for the reasons given above. Most HCFs have reverted to designated patient-sitter arrangements, such as the local sitter option.
Here it should be mentioned that typically, a sitter of the type utilized in the local sitter option, has three primary functions: monitor patient under the sitter's care for any action that might indicate a sitter response is needed; respond to the patient; and alert a skilled HCF professional if the sitter response is inadequate or if the patient action reflects a need for intervention by a skilled HCF professional. Typically, the maximum response authorized by a sitter to a patient is to verbally reassure the patient of her surroundings, or to warn the patient that her actions may be dangerous, harmful or otherwise contrary to the patient orders. If any other response is necessary, the sitter must immediately alert a skilled HCF professional, typically by calling a nurse to the patient's room. Hence, it is the sitter's responsibility to take a position in the patient room, visually monitor that patient and, using the “nurse call button” or similar device, alert a skilled HCF professional if the patient situation dictates. In so doing, the HCF can assign sitter duties to relatively unskilled personnel and not the more skilled and rigorously trained skilled HCF professional staff. Hence, although the overall cost of sitting service to the HCF may not decrease appreciably, at least the skilled HCF professional is freed from sitter responsibilities to do more important work, and, patients needing sitting services are monitoring continuously, irrespective of the workload of the skilled HCF professional staff. Other shortcomings of the local sitter option are that the flex-sitter must be available to take shifts with relatively short notice since the sitter workload for a HCF may vary widely from one shift to the next and, additionally, floating sitters must be available to relieve local sitters for breaks, personal time and lunch.
Here again, the cost to the HCF of sitter service can be astronomical. What is needed is a sitter management system which enables a more cost effective approach to sitter care of patients, while not sacrificing or even increasing the standard of care to the patients.